Environmental Problems and Greenpeace in China - China Environment Forum Woodrow Wilson Centre - Wilson ...
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Environmental Problems
and Greenpeace in China
China Environment Forum
Woodrow Wilson Centre
LO Sze Ping
Campaign & Communications Director
Greenpeace China
19/09/2007
Content
¾ Greenpeace perspective on
Environmental challenges in China
¾ Recent environment controversies
and Environmental NGOs in China
¾ Reflections on Greenpeace
campaigning experience in China
greenpeace.org
Development x Environment @ China
Fundamentals
China’s econ growth continues
China’s envt degradation worsens
China’s global envt impact increases
rapidly
greenpeace.org
Environmental challenges
The intensity, speed, and scale of economic development caused
unprecedented environmental degradation and pollution.
China faced tremendous problems in enforcing its environmental
regulations. Provincial and local governments prioritize in bringing in
more investment and GDP growth, at the expenses of environment.
There are increasing concerns about environmental problems in
China, from top leaders, media to public, but the “local government +
corporations” alliance is difficult to be tamed
China’s growth also poses severe pressure on the world’s shrinking
natural resources (e.g. forests and oil) and climate change
China’s growth exemplifies that current consumption pattern is
unsustainable: if China were to raise its per-capita consumption of
paper to that level of the USA, the world would need to double timber
harvest to meet that demand
greenpeace.org
Energy Consumption Per Capita
350
300
Millions of BTUs
250
200
150
100
50
0
U.S. W. Europe China
greenpeace.org
Source: Energy Information Administration, 2002
After 25 years of rapid econ dev’t …
With 21% of world’s population, China becomes
• the world’s largest manufacturer
• the world’s largest consumer of natural resources
• the world’s largest importer of timber
• the world’s largest consumer of coal, iron and
copper & many other minerals
• the world’s second largest consumer of petroleum
and electricity
• Consumes 7.4% of the world’s total crude oil and
31% coal
• But, GDP accounts for the world’s 4% only
greenpeace.org
The true cost of growth
Economic loss caused by pollution estimated to be 3.05% (512bRMB)of GDP in
2004, virtual management cost to be 1.8% of GDP (287bRMB) (SEPA)
Pollutant emission per unit of GDP over 12 times higher than developed countries
China’s energy use per unit of GDP is 7 times higher than Japan’s, 6 times higher
than America’s and 2.8 times higher than India’s
16 of the 20 most air-polluted cities globally
¼ people drink polluted water; 1/3 urban population breathe polluted air, 70% of
cancer deaths are pollution-related
In 2004, only 2 (7.5%) of the 27 lakes can be classified as good water quality. 5 are
fair (18.5%), 4 are bad (14.8%), 6 are worse (22.2%), 10 are the worst (37%)
In 2004, 298 cities suffered from Acid Rain, accounts for 56.5% of cities in survey.
Acid Rain affects 1/3 of national area
In 15 yrs, only 6 of the 45 major minerals in China will be left
greenpeace.org
“污染对公众健康的危害将引发社会强烈
不满。据统计，因环境污染引发的群体性
事件以年均29%的速度递增。目前，我国
已提前进入了环境事故高发期”
“以环境友好促进社会和谐”，《求是》，潘岳，2006-8-17
“Degradation of public heath as a result of
pollution will lead to strong social discontent.
Social protests driven by pollution increase by 29%
per year in average. Right now, our country enters
into a Period of Frequent Environmental Incidents”
~ Pan Yue 2006 Aug
greenpeace.org
The state
“Let our people have fresh air,
clean water and safe food”
~ Premier Wen 2005
让人民群众呼吸清新的空气、喝干净的水、吃放心的食物 (温总)
greenpeace.org
政府(话语)越来越环保
Government (discourse) becomes increasingly pro-environment
「以人為本」、「科學發展觀」及「和諧社會」
“human-centered,” “scientific development,” “harmonious society”
实质管治需要:
Pragmatic governance needs:
保持经济增长动力 Keeping the momentum for economic growth
继持和提高管治合法性 Maintaining and enhancing governance legitimacy
确保社会稳定 Ensuring social stability
平衡特殊利益集团 Balancing the “specialized interest groups”
减轻国际压力 Reducing international pressure
greenpeace.org三个转变 Three changes 国务院召开第六次全国环境保护大会，温家宝总理强调做好新形势下的环保工作 ，关键是要加快实 现“三个转变”: 一是从重经济增长轻环境保护转变为保护环境与经济增长并重，把加强环境保护作为调整经济结构、 转变经济增长方式的重要手段，在保护环境中求发展； Environmental protection and economic growth are equally important 二是从环境保护滞后于经济发展转变为环境保护和经济发展同步，做到不欠新账，多还旧账，改变 先污染后治理、边治理边破坏的状况； Environmental protection and economic growth are synchronized 三是从主要用行政办法保护环境转变为综合运用法律、经济、技术和必要的行政办法解决环境问 题，自觉遵循经济规律和自然规律，提高环境保护工作水平。 Solving environmental problems through comprehensive application of legal, economic, technical and executive means. greenpeace.org
The social
Rupture 断裂 & Gaming 博弈
Oligarchy formation on the top;
fragmentization below (上层寡头化，下层碎片化)
Whose development & legitimacy of reform
Civil Society & NGOs
greenpeace.orgPublic Interest
I III
State NGO
Coercive Voluntary
means means
IV II
Corporate-state
collaboration / Market
Corruption
Private Interest
Qin Hui 2005Popular mobilization in Xiamen against a chemical plant producing PX
greenpeace.org
greenpeace.org
Algae explosion in Taihu and other areas
greenpeace.org
greenpeace.org
greenpeace.org
Absence & Silence of NGOs 缺位失语
PX mobilization in Xiamen: NGO - New Government
Organization?
Aglae explosion in Taihu and other areas
NGO risking missing the opportunity….
Internal capacity bottleneck
Legal and financial limitation
SEPA taking over as the main activist-actor
Corporations proactively “greening” themselves
greenpeace.orgEnvironmental NGOs in China
Environment is the most active field for NGO development
Almost all major international environmental NGOs have
presence in China
There has been a rapid development of local NGOs in China
in the last decade, but most of them are relatively small
Most NGOs take an education and/or conservation approach,
few are campaigning groups
Difficult for NGOs to get registered. Most of them work in
“grey area”. Almost impossible to do public fundraising in China,
so most rely on overseas funding.
greenpeace.orgGreenpeace in China
Since 1997our Greenpeace stands for
positive change through
mission action to defend the natural
world and promote peace.
Greenpeace is a non-profit
organisation, with a presence in 40
countries. To maintain
independence, we do not accept
donations from governments or
corporations but rely on
contributions from individual
supporters and foundation grants.
greenpeace.orgour history In 1971, a small team of activists set sail from Vancouver, Canada, to protest peacefully against U.S nuclear testing. Their direct action marked the beginning of Greenpeace. greenpeace.org
today Greenpeace has grown into a truly global organisation with a presence in 40 countries and 2.8 million supporters worldwide. Yet we are still motivated by the same principles of those early activists: taking action to bring positive change. greenpeace.org
Achievements in 2005 --
The most influential environmental NGO awarded by media
Southern Weekend Dec 29th, 2005, “Rankings of NGOs”
-- Rank NO.2 among 9 NGOs
Nanfeng Chuang Magazine “2005 Annual Organization Awards” --
“Greenpeace：Engaging in the reliable advocacy”:
“The work of Greenpeace in 2005 can be summed by 4 words: Investigate, expose,
advice and advocate …Its precise, scientific and strategic working methods establish a
paradigm for other domestic environmental protection NGOs to refer to”.
“People are no longer interested in the rights or wrong of APP. The issue has created a platform for
the public to challenge the powerful, demonstrating a form of civil society centered around consumer
democracy. The dynamics among Greenpeace, local government and APP presented a vigorous
value conflict. These are taken in as “a new form of social movement in China with a very important
political implication”
- Economic Review, Jan 2006
Greenpeace and HP, “A fight between an Ant and a herd of Elephants”
- Commercial Weekly, Jan 2006
greenpeace.orgGreenpeace China
Established in 1997 with 3
offices
Hong Kong
Beijing
Guangzhou
Staff number – around 90 in total
(HK~35, BJ~50, GZ~5)
greenpeace.orgCampaigns
Climate and Energy
Climate impact / Policy and Kyoto / Renewable
energy VS Coal
Food and Agriculture
GMOs & Pesticides vs. Sustainable Agriculture
Toxics
Electronics pollution & Producers’ responsibility /
Water
Forest
Illegal logging & forest-destructive timber trade
greenpeace.orgCampaign
The pursuit of social and political goals
by changing public opinion, awareness and
behavior;
Change
by changing parliamentary and government
policies and actions;
by influencing the private sector.
greenpeace.orgHow do we bring about changes？
Govermnet Corporate
Policy Behavior
Media／Public
Greenpeace
greenpeace.orgEasy and civilized, sometimes
2005 -- Take part in driving Chinese
government to establish and issue
the Renewable Energy Promotion
Law, first of its kind in the
developing world
2004 -- Delegate of Chinese
government announced in the
International Renewable Energy
Conference in Bonn, Germany that
China is expected to take the lead
of using more wind energy and the
installed capacity of renewable
energy will be half of the whole
national installed capacity.
greenpeace.orgEven easier than in the western
countries？
“If the policies adopted by China over the past year read like an
environmental group's wish list, that is due in part to… it is
easier to pass major energy policy changes in China than in the
United States, largely because the country has a highly
centralized government and few entrenched companies trying to
secure big profit margins.”
Greenwire March 16, 2004
greenpeace.orgBut, implementing these policies are very difficult… National protectionism Provincial protectionism Formal and informal influence of the established interested parties greenpeace.org
Even… the non-action of government
In 2004, GP exposed the illegal
deforestation of APP in Hainan
Province and Yunnan Province
.
SFA confirmed the deforestation
activities of APP after sending an
investigation team to Yunnan.
But no punishment to APP.
In 2005,in the letter sent by APP
to SFA, it admitted its
deforestation activities and
guaranteed to obey Chinese laws.
greenpeace.orgLuckily, when there are same interests…
In 2000,GPC exposed that
Monsanto was applying for
patent control of wild Chinese
soy.
“Southern Weekend” published
a headline story titled “Violating
American patent right by
planting Chinese soy?”
State Council instructed related
national agencies to study how
to protect genetic resources
from Multinationals’ biopriacy
encroachment.
greenpeace.orgOf course, sometimes we have quarrels… In 2004, Greenpeace exposed the scandal of illegal GE rice planted in Hubei Province and had contaminated the rice market. This GE rice had not be approved for commercial release and therefore illegal. Media questioned the managerial capacities of MOA. Agriculture Bureau in Hubei Province investigated the case and punished some related companies. Under the pressure, MOA recruited food safety experts and ecologists into the “Bio- safety committee”. Till now, no GE rice commercialization application have been approved despite huge pressure from the biotech industry. greenpeace.org
In a nutshell …
The state is not homogenous. Policy work of Greenpeace
does not necessarily need to follow just one route.
The process of influencing policy is the process of power
wrestling among various players who have different interests.
Economic reform has been transforming China into a society
with diversifying interests. If there is no such a channel for public
interests or those powerless and marginalized groups to
articulate and express their interests and influence policies, the
situation of “winner wins everything” will come into being.
greenpeace.orgwww.greenpeace.org.cn
LO Sze PingEnergy Consumption
China 2002 World
2002
natural gas
natural gas
3% coal
24%
70%
coal
26%
oil
nuclear
39% non-hydro hydro
hydro 8%
oil nuclear renewables 2%
24% 2%
1% 1%
greenpeace.org
Source: IEA, 2004Carbon Emissions from Coal Use
1400
2,500
1200
2,000
1000
Million metric tons
1,500 U.S.
Million Metric Tons
800
600 1,000
400 China
500
200
Projected
0
0 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020
1998 2005 2010 2015 2020
China consumes 70% more coal per year than the U.S., and rising
greenpeace.org
Source: IEAThank you ! greenpeace.org
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